


a dance, a moment

by cowboylakay



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboylakay/pseuds/cowboylakay
Summary: One dance is all they need.
Relationships: Arthur Morgan/Charles Smith
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42





	a dance, a moment

“Ain’t got a lot of time—”

“We won’t be long,” Charles says, softly, the words gentle in his mouth. He takes Arthur’s hand, brings him close to his chest, places a polite but knowing hand around his waist, and smiles a soft, sweet smile. “One dance is all I ask.”

Arthur gapes at him for a moment, glancing at the dark shadows cast by the fire in camp, the gentle strumming of a guitar wafting through the night. The party’s died down by some, most asleep and some still drinking by the fire or stewing on their own. Arthur can’t remember what the celebration was for, why it warranted this party. His world narrows in on Charles and Charles alone.

“I-” He stumbles, even as his body moves of it’s own accord and places an arm over Charles’ shoulder to rest a hand against the top of his back, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Charles tells him simply, as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Arthur very nearly slaps himself for thinking his eyes sparkled. “One dance,” He repeats, already swaying to the faint music. Arthur follows his lead dumbly, feeling like a fish out of water.

Charles is merciful and chooses not to mention that, directing the both of them with grace. He still smells of the grass they laid in awhile ago, with the dew and the dirt and the smell of the rain sticking to their clothes. His hair tickles Arthur’s arm, but he hardly notices, mesmerised by the way Charles looked at him.

It was an expression he didn’t know. Something about the intensity of it made him feel weak in the knees, wondering if he made the same stupid, weakening expression. Charles smiles again, and Arthur thinks the sun and the stars and the moon and all the light in this horrible, dark world have nothing in comparison to Charles.

At any living moment, in this life they lead and this world they live in, they could die and be nothing but a memory already beginning to fade. Arthur would certainly go to hell, if the Catholics were right, and he would spend an eternity and more suffering and paying for his sins. He could be at the mercy of a man or a gun or a pissed-off buck, but the thought of death doesn’t scare him. He wonders, then, why the idea of losing this moment feels like the end of the world.

_You know why,_ his own voice tells him in his mind. He does, as he sways gently with Charles and laughs quietly when he trips slightly like a boy. He’s afraid of losing Charles, this goodness in his life of bad, afraid that when this moment is over and the good has come and go, he would never feel this again. He’s afraid of many things, but losing Charles seems to be at the forefront of his mind. When did it change, he wonders.

“You with me, Arthur?” Charles asks him, a small smile on his face even as he lets the concern be heard in his tone. The hand on Arthur’s waist moves slightly, rubbing at the curve and pudge there. Someone whoops in the distance as Javier brings his song to a close, but they both still hold each other.

Arthur smiles back, pushing his scattered thoughts to the back of his mind. “Yeah, I’m with you,” He says, pressing a kiss to his lips. He feels Charles smile into it, right before reciprocating. The night turns darker and the moon rises higher above them, an owl hooting not too far from where they were standing.

He could go to hell tomorrow, listing his sins, but loving Charles had never been one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> i’m [lakay](https://cowboylakay.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


End file.
